Hand-held powered medical devices typically receive power from external sources such as receiving mechanical power through a rotating cable, electric power via conductive cables, or compressed air via tubing. Batteries may also be integrated into a medical device to provide power to the device.
Hand-held powered medical devices that have sources of power commonly require consoles that connect to the hand-held portion of the device. The power consoles require capital investment, storage, service, and suffer from obsolescence as technology changes.
When an electric motor is used to provide rotational motion to a cutting device, the additional weight of the electric motor may cause operator fatigue. Wires from an external power supply are inconvenient to make the connections and to have the wires attached to the device during use.
Electric motors increase the cost of a device because of the increased cost of the motor in addition to the cost of a power supply (in the case of an externally powered motor) or the cost of a recharging unit (when rechargeable batteries are used). The addition of electric motors makes sterilization of the device more difficult and adds mass to the device. The presence of batteries adds potentially toxic chemicals that present additional challenges related to toxicity hazards in addition to sterilization difficulties. Also, medical devices that include electric motors are usually made to be re-usable which requires a system for reprocessing the device.
Additionally, bleeding may commonly occur during surgical procedures when tissue is cut. Bleeding may obscure the surgical field and cause loss of blood. Bleeding that does not stop by bodily coagulation processes must be stopped through interventional measures.
Thus, there is a need for more efficient, safer and cost effective devices and methods for performing work on tissue, e.g., cutting, resecting, morcellating, excising and/or removing tissue, in various regions of the body.